Breckwell P23FS - New Guy Questions

[Danger_Leo]

Hello everyone!

Born and raised on tradition wood stoves, so pellet is completely new to me.

So I recently bought a used P23FS and need some help.

1. I took the ash trap doors and vacuumed it out the best I could. Do the ask trap doors get gasketed back into place or are they jsut bolted in?

2. I cannot seem to get the flame going straight up, it tends to twirl and spin towards the exhaust motor side of the chamber. What could be causing this?

3. Ash pan door, what gasket should I use? I feel that my problem getting the flame correct may have to deal with a leak around this gasket. Is that possible?

Any help would be great!

 

[Ocelot]

I don't know that stove, but my old Englander had cleanout plates like that and those were not gasketed. As far as which gaskets to use for the door, ashpan, etc. I'm not affiliated with this site in anyway and you can buy them anywhere you get the best price, but this website lists all the parts for your stove so you can see what it says you need there and then buy from them or anywhere else.
https://pellet-stove-parts-4less.co...-pellet-stove-parts-p23-series-sonora/gaskets

 

[leaver441]

Sorry I don't know much about that type of stove, but if your flame is burning inefficient then it is definitely an air leak related issue or a venting related issue. Sometimes what can happen when you're doing a vigorous cleaning, you can accidentally push ash in to somewhere that didn't already have it. Easy enough to do but really it could be anything. Definitely start with the basics, ensuring your gaskets are good at the door and ash pan and combustion motor. And make sure that your exhaust path and air intake path are both clean and free of anything.

As per ocelots post above, that is also the seller I use for all of my stove parts and they are fantastic.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Did you remove the combustion blower and clean the housing inside? I don't know squat about that stove either and just giving a model number without the brand makes it a complete crapshoot but I will tell you that when the flame swirls towards the combustion blower side of the unit, that means you have excessive ash blockage somewhere and I bet it's the combustion blower housing that is full of fly ash. Finally, does the combustion blower operate properly? Bearings need oiled regularly. Same with the convection fan.

 

[Danger_Leo]

Did you remove the combustion blower and clean the housing inside? I don't know squat about that stove either and just giving a model number without the brand makes it a complete crapshoot but I will tell you that when the flame swirls towards the combustion blower side of the unit, that means you have excessive ash blockage somewhere and I bet it's the combustion blower housing that is full of fly ash. Finally, does the combustion blower operate properly? Bearings need oiled regularly. Same with the convection fan.

See the picture above. All the pathways to the combustion motor weer cleaned and inspected.

 

[Danger_Leo]

I don't know that stove, but my old Englander had cleanout plates like that and those were not gasketed. As far as which gaskets to use for the door, ashpan, etc. I'm not affiliated with this site in anyway and you can buy them anywhere you get the best price, but this website lists all the parts for your stove so you can see what it says you need there and then buy from them or anywhere else.
https://pellet-stove-parts-4less.co...-pellet-stove-parts-p23-series-sonora/gaskets

Thank you, but none of those gaskets are for the ashpan.

Prior to posting, that is the site I used for my combustion motor gaskets and door gasket.

I found this, it seems to be on par with the gap between the ASH PAN cover and opening.

Has anyone used this?

Breckwell Fire Door Glass & Ash Pan Graphite Flat Gasket 1/8 in D x 11 | East Coast Hearth

Door Glass or Ash Door Graphite Impregnated Flat Gasket 1/8" D x 11/16" Wide x 8' Long Self Stick for all Breckwell pellet stoves. Models: P22 P22I Maverick Insert P4000 Classic Cast 5040 Pellet Stove P23 - Serial # 7166 to Present P23I - Serial # 2243 to Present P24 - Serial # 53664 to Present...

www.eastcoasthearth.com

 

[SidecarFlip]

See the picture above. All the pathways to the combustion motor weer cleaned and inspected.

Not what I asked.. Did you remove the combustion blower from the housing and clean the fan blades and cavity and did you check it for proper rotation and not binding in any way? Lazy flames can be caused by a number of things but usually a malfunctioning combustion blower that is binding up (dry bearings) or filth inside the cavity. Your picture only shows the visible pathways, not the combustion blower or the cavity it operates in.

Finally, in as much as I had one years ago, they have a bad habit of shedding combustion fan blades for some reason. I had the replace my combustion fan more than once.

 

[Danger_Leo]

Not what I asked.. Did you remove the combustion blower from the housing and clean the fan blades and cavity and did you check it for proper rotation and not binding in any way? Lazy flames can be caused by a number of things but usually a malfunctioning combustion blower that is binding up (dry bearings) or filth inside the cavity. Your picture only shows the visible pathways, not the combustion blower or the cavity it operates in.

Finally, in as much as I had one years ago, they have a bad habit of shedding combustion fan blades for some reason. I had the replace my combustion fan more than once.

Yeah, I went ham on the combustion motor.

Took it apart and wire brushed all the blades down to parent material. The chimney liner was just installed new for this season so I didn't want any debris going up if I could help it.

Bearings were oiled using clock oil and were super smooth. I can't get a good pic of the flames, for reason my phone won't take a good pic of that color spectrum, but if you see it in operation, it almost appears to be pulling too hard from the exhaust cavities (hence my question if the ash trap covers were supposed to be gasketed into place.

 

[Danger_Leo]

So I was talking with a few folks at work that have pellet stoves and they recommended temporarily taping over the ash pan door using metallic tape (luckily I have some) and see if that makes a difference.

I ordered the new style burnpot, as the burnpot in there does not look anything like the pots used now days. It is super wide and hole pattern is in bad shape.

I also ordered new ash pan door gasket if in case that is my issue, I can put a permanent fix on it.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Clock oil? A bit too light. 30 weight motor oil is better. I guess clock oil would work but will need regular re-oiling just like the room air fan and the auger motor as well.

I happen to own 3 grandfather clocks and they all get oiled yearly as well. Hardest part is getting them to all strike close to each other....

 

[Danger_Leo]

Clock oil? A bit too light. 30 weight motor oil is better. I guess clock oil would work but will need regular re-oiling just like the room air fan and the auger motor as well.

I happen to own 3 grandfather clocks and they all get oiled yearly as well. Hardest part is getting them to all strike close to each other....

I used clock oil because it is lest susceptible to collecting dust. So far so good. I have been watching this thing like a hawk since it is my first pellet stove. Starting to miss my wood stove. Less gadgets and gismometers.

We have three clocks in the house (one of them is a tiffany) and I have never ever heard them strike together. It would sound like doomsday.

 

[SidecarFlip]

It would sound like doomsday.

Mine all chime different sounds.

 

[Mt Bob]

Anderol 465 Synthetic Bearing Oil is the best oil,for bearings and bushings. But any synthetic motor oil is OK also.

 

[Mt Bob]

Now for the rest--
the P23 has passageways inside those clean out openings, that go up and around. They are well known to plug up, partially and totally. Pull off all the covers,and beat the stove with a mallet, see if crap starts falling down. Quite a normal procedure for this stove. Many of these stoves got sold or thrown away from these passageways getting plugged, and causing poor burning. You may even have to run a stiff wire around in them..
Oh,I hope you have the fire brick panels, also. They need to be in.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I beat on my 6039 regularly. I can beat on it. If I beat on my wife, she would beat back....lol

I use a length of 2 x 2 wooden stick about 2 feet long every time I clean the stove. In fact did it this morning. Beat the hell out of the inside, you'd be amazed at the amount of ash that falls down. Stick don't dent anything, works great for me. Been doing that for years, worn out a few sticks already.

 

[Danger_Leo]

UPDATES!

Have been learning everything about this stove the hard way.

Well, first hurtle was getting the flame concentrated and directed towards the heat exchanger tubes. After looking at several other stoves on the market, I realized that my burn pot is much wider than other styles out there now days., stove is from 2001 So, replaced the burn pot with the new style and now I have a textbook flame

Next thing was the air leak coming from the ash pan door, since I clean out the stove with a vacuum, I simply taped it shut using tape we use for masking rotating turbine parts for plasma spray and hvof spray. Since I did the burnpot and taped the ash pan door at the same time, I can't tell you which repair I benefited from more, but both were 100% needed.

Now that I have the stove up and running of course the convection fan starts to make some squeaking noises and finally last night it made one final high pitched squeak and kicked the bucket. I tried giving it the good old jump start with a screwdriver, but it has totally seized. Luckily I have a new combustion fan and convection fan on the way (Should be here tomorrow). I will rebuild both of them after I get them out for spares. I am sure they have some cheap Chinese made bearings in them, I will replace them with Timkens or Ceramics (probably ceramics).

So needless to say I will taking the stove apart again tonight getting it ready for the new parts to arrive and order all the replacement hardware to rebuild the blowers currently in it.

Been in contact with Breckwell via social media and they have been super helpful providing me with part numbers and history on my stove.

 

[Danger_Leo]

Now for the rest--
the P23 has passageways inside those clean out openings, that go up and around. They are well known to plug up, partially and totally. Pull off all the covers,and beat the stove with a mallet, see if crap starts falling down. Quite a normal procedure for this stove. Many of these stoves got sold or thrown away from these passageways getting plugged, and causing poor burning. You may even have to run a stiff wire around in them..
Oh,I hope you have the fire brick panels, also. They need to be in.

I asked Breckwell about this and they said the firebrick is decorative and does not add any mechanical advantage.

If you see picture on my first post, all the internal cavities have been cleaned and inspected with a bore scope.

 

[Danger_Leo]

UPDATE.

The Convection fan finally kicked the bucket, the bearings completely seized. After inspection of the motor it was clear that pellet dust was falling from the chute/auger/hopper interface and falling on the rear bell end of the motor. After ordering a new assembly and gaskets, $150 (not terrible) I cold worked the hopper and the chute to ensure the overlaps did not have any small openings. I also put down a bead of high temp RTV on the joint and pressed it in with my finger. After curing, I cycled through about 1/8 of a bag of pellets to ensure the fix had solved the issue and it did.

I have also noticed that my exhaust motor was struggling to get up to speed so since I have the whole stove pulled away from the liner I also ordered a new exhaust motor (Only motor and gasket). Quick and easy fix.

Whatever jabroni worked on the stove before me had no business doing so. All the gaskets were hand cut (badly) from silicon rubber, if in fact there were gaskets. There was no gasket between the motor and its housing, it appears they used window caulk, that I had to wire brush off prior to installing the new gaskets. They also lost half of the original hardware and replaced it with whatever nuts and bolts grandpa had in the magical coffee can (I have one too, so no judgement).

I am happy I ran the stove on the 30 degree nights and was able to get parts quick, I would hate to be unprepared on a 0 degree night. Luckily for us, the pellet stove is supplemental heating, mainly to keep the floors warm in our raised ranch style home and keep my workshop (code name for basement) warm in the winter months. I am also deathly afraid of my boiler pipes freezing and since I have a three flew chimney this seamed like an obvious choice.

So now that all the major moving components are fixed for the time being. Curious to see what goes wrong next.

Here are the links to hardware in case anyone was wondering, everything is linked for convenience, it can be a running list of all of the parts I have replaced.

I am going to pull the convection and exhaust motor apart and replace the bearings, I am not going to link the bearings as I would imagine aftermarket motors could be drastically different.

ASH PAN DOOR and Glass GASKET (CLICK HERE)

500 DEGREE RTV (CLICK HERE)

EXHAUST FAN HOUSING GASKET (CLICK HERE)

EXHAUST FAN MOTOR to EXHAUST FAN HOUSING GASKET (CLICK HERE)

CONVECTION FAN GASKET (CLICK HERE)

DOOR GASKET (CLICK HERE)

DOOR GASKET CEMENT (CLICK HERE)

CONVECTION FAN ASSEMBLY (CLICK HERE)

BURN POT (CLICK HERE) CHECK FIT BEFORE PURCHASE

SHOP VAC BAG (CLICK HERE) CHECK FIT BEFORE PURCHASE


SIDE NOTE: Exhaust fan motor from my link comes with one gasket, so no need to buy another.